Kolkata:
Police have arrested a member of Maoist-backed group People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) for role in Jhargram train disaster in which over 148 people were killed. Bholanath Mahato is suspected to be part of a gang which damaged the rail track that led to the derailment. (
Read: Furore over hogtied Maoists)
A section of the track was removed, a train headed to Mumbai derailed in Jhargram in West Midnapore, and was then hit by another train.
This is the third arrest in the case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the train disaster which is suspected to be a work of Naxals.
Earlier, the CBI had offered one lakh for information that could help locate three people it has accused of the West Bengal train attack last month. (
Bengal train attack: CBI accuses PCPA members)
The PCPA is described often as a front organization for the Maoists in the area. It was formed after November 2008, when an assassination attempt was made against Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee during a trip to Lalgarh. The police responded with a series of arrests amidst severe criticism by intellectuals in Kolkata and allegations of massive violations of human rights of the tribals in the area.
Supported by the PCPA, the tribals then began a violent agitation that lasted several months, refusing to let security forces and state administrators into Lalgarh. The Maoists were bent on creating and running "a liberated zone"- one in which the government would play no part.
Finally, a massive operation that combined central security forces and the state police was able to reclaim the area.